Trafficking racket busted, 4 held

MUMBAI: Four men-Parmeshwar Mandal alias Raju Pudina (33), Kailash Sav (30), Shetlal Mandal (27) and Kishor Mandal (27)-were arrested by the west region special squad police early on Saturday for allegedly running a prostitution racket in the suburbs.Officers rescued three women who were allegedly being used by the accused to solicit clients. Of the women rescued, two are Russian citizens while the third is Indian. The accused have been identified as . While Raju resided in Santa Cruz, the other accused are residents of Juhu.

Officers said Raju was the mastermind. The squad had received specific information that women were being brought to Juhu to solicit clients. Teams were then formed and a decoy customer was sent to speak to the accused. Cops then laid a trap and nabbed the accused. We told the decoy to speak to Raju and fix a time to meet. We laid a trap outside Ajanta Hotel on Juhu-Tara Road at 3.30 am,” said an officer. “At 4.45 am, two cars pulled over. Raju got off one of the cars. The women were seated in the other car. As soon as he finished speaking to the decoy and agreed upon a sum, we moved in and nabbed him and the others We also arrested the others who were part of the racket,” said assistant inspector Manish Awale.

Assistant inspector Manish Awale said the police have recovered Rs 72,000 in cash from the accused. The accused told the cops that they used to contact clients and sent over the women after fixing the payment. They have been operating for a while and the police are verifying whether the gang has any past cases registered against them. The police are also probing the possibility of more persons being involved.

The accused have been booked under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA). They will be presented before court.